>> next, the annual press club foundation dinner and an discussion on bringing news coverage to afghanistan. then a conversation with the ceo of general electric. on the next washington journal, the former ohio congressman and now president and ceo of the republican partnership talks about the role model republicans will play in fiscal matters, such as planned cuts. the court and -- the president and ceo to end domestic violence discusses the renewal of the violence against women act. and the center for strategic and international studies looks at north korea's nuclear capability. "washington journal" at 7:00

a.m. eastern on c-span. >> on mary todd lincoln. >> one son dies in the white house. one after her son's assassination. the kinds of grief this woman was going through is amazing. folks demonized her for that. thought she was crazy. we found out she was not crazy. she was a significant person and i hope someday we get a better view of the range of things that influenced her life, not just the tragedy. >> "first ladies," first of its kind project examining the public and private lives of the women that served as first lady. season one begins just over a week at 9:00 p.m. eastern and

pacific on february 18 on c- span, c-span radio and c-span .org. >> on wednesday, the washington press club foundation hosted its annual congressional dinner. speakers included a speaker from utah and north dakota. lynn honored with the lifetime achievement award. she is a former senior editor and the first woman to hold that position at newsweek. major garret acted as the master of ceremonies. this is 45 minutes.

>> good evening again. good evening, and welcome to our honored guests, members of congress, journalism colleagues, and friends. again, i am ellen shearer, and i'm president of the washington press club foundation. this is our 69th press club dinner. [applause] it is a chance to celebrate the hard work of those in the room. journalists and those they cover, the members of congress and their hard-working staff. it is also an opportunity to remember the great winning journalists who came before us and who set standards of reporting excellence to which we can all aspire. the four we did to our program tonight, i would like to introduce our distinguished table. these hold off your applause until i finish the introductions. i will start at my right. julie davis of bloomberg, our foundation's secretary.

terry gainer. linda povich, winner of our lifetime achievement award. david myers of cq roll call, the foundation vice president and one of our dinner co chairs. senator heidi heitkamp of north dakota, one of our speakers. our master of ceremonies, major garrett of cbs. congressman chaffetz, one of our speakers tonight. christina valentoni, senate parliamentarian, elizabeth mcdonough, and sheila casey, the treasurer. let's give our table a round of applause. [applause]

before we get to our speaker, i have a few quick thank you's. first, we are all able to enjoy this evening of wonderful food, great conversation, and great speakers thanks to the hard work of our incredible dinner committee, and in particular our dinner co chairs, christina valentoni and david myers. thank you, guys. [applause] and thank you to our amazing executive director, who once again performed her magic to give us this evening. i also wanted to thank the foundation's sponsors and friends. their support makes the work of our foundation possible and helps us put on tonight's event. they are -- toyota, unitedhealth group, cq roll

call, the hill, the us chamber of commerce, ford motor company, the national beer wholesalers association, the american petroleum institute, microsoft, and the newspaper association of america. thank you. thanks also to ted benson of cq roll call for providing the cover art for our program, and of course the mandarin oriental hotel and its great staff. we have a terrific program tonight, and when it is over cq roll call will keep the fun going with a fabulous after party. the band suspicious package will keep us going into the night. in six years from now, the washington press club foundation will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

it began life as the women's national press club. the courageous women who came together in 1919 fox to -- fought to establish their place as professional reporters in a mail-dominated business. tonight we honor their courage and try to live up to their legacy in the 21st century. our mission is to carry forward our founding goal of equality, scholarship, and excellence in journalism. in keeping with that mission, the proceeds of tonight's dinner go to the foundation's charitable events, including collecting oral histories of leading women in journalism, and are successful internship program. this year we have taken on an ambitious digitization process to make our oral histories more

accessible and more secure for posterity. through our internship program we have provided full funding for half a dozen college students to work over the summer at media organizations, learning the traditional excellence that is a hallmark of our foundation. our media partners this year are the new york times, hearst newspapers, "the los angeles times," cbs, the huffington post, and bet. now i am delighted to turn the podium over to our eloquent and gracious and see, major garrett. major is the chief white house correspondent for cbs news. he is also a correspondent at large for "national journal," where he has written a column. he has written several books, most recently "the enduring revolution."

he is also a former member of the washington press club foundation. we are most grateful to major for taking time away from his day job. over to you. >> thank you. i am ever mindful of my day job, so i will not confuse my duties with trying to be a comic. i have been here many times, but never in till tonight at the head table. i will move at a smart pace. so let's move along. but i will say one thing -- i feel like a bit of a scab. i have been done were you are sitting and i have managed to be here. if you have not begun to do so yet, i would suggest you drink heavily. a quick shout out to my

colleagues at cbs and "national journal." if you are watching as long as i have, you have a lot of colleagues. everyone, it is great to have you here. what we are going to do is we will do the david lynch award and the washington press club foundation lifetime achievement award. then we will turn it over to the people you really came to see, not me, senator heitkamp, congressman chaffetz. the david lynch award -- i knew david lynch really well. give a round of applause to the recipient. david was one of the few guys who would give me a little bit of the advice. he would say, major, write that down, put that in your story. he was a prince of a man who

covered regional news for many different newspapers and did so with the grace and elegance that i always admired and still do to this day. without further ado, the winner of this year's david lynch award that emphasizes regional reporting is allison sherry of "the denver post." if you can please come up here. [applause] as alison makes her way up here, i do want to note the honorable mentions -- matt cannon of the "salt lake tribune," and karen of "the las vegas sun." let's give a round of applause. [applause] ellen has familiarize you with the washington press club foundation's mission, how it

got hard, all those things i believe and believed in when i was a board member in the early 1990s. i believe in them tonight. we all do. before we get to the video, let's say bit about who she is, which i'm sure the video will further eliminate. -- illuminate. in 1970, when she was at "newsweek," she was one of 46 women journalist who filed a complaint against "newsweek" because they would not allow women to write in the newsroom. that was a real career crisis for her and her colleagues. i want to note something you might find of interest. among here tonight is -- among you here tonight is the lawyer who represented her and the 45 members of newsweek, eleanor holmes norton, the lawyer who represented them. a round of applause for eleanor holmes norton. [applause] very quickly, and i imagine my

colleagues here who are women will deeply appreciate this one little part of the lynn povich story. you can imagine it was a career crisis for these 46 women who try to figure out a way to sue the company they work for, dominated by men. they had secret meetings to decide how they would do it and recruit their members -- where? in the ladies room. that is exactly right. that story is part and parcel of what they did together in this sisterhood to sue "newsweek," which was ultimately successful. she became the first senior editor of "newsweek." she went on to become the editor in chief of "women's world" magazine and went on to work at msnbc. that will be in the video you're about to see, sponsored by united healthcare. the video of our award winner, lynn povich. [applause]

>> as the daughter of a journalist, lynn povich may have been destined to become one herself. but probably not. >> we were raised to get married, have children. almost half of them got married that year, when they graduated. the rest of us got jobs. >> she became a secretary in the paris bureau of "newsweek." later she joined as a researcher in new york. only held higher positions. >> you did what you were told -- go somewhere else, women do not write at "newsweek." >> the women's movement was underway and the civil rights act was law. >> we decided to do something. now this is illegal and it is a moral issue, men doing something that is against the law. so one by one we started secretly organizing. >> she was among the four

organizers to approach aclu attorney eleanor holmes norton. >> it was a figment of the old order, that women were supposed to have gender-based jobs and men were supposed to have the rest. >> "newsweek local ran a cover story on the women's movement -- on the same day, 50 women announced they were filing suit against the magazine for sex discrimination, the first women journalists to do so. >> these women actively understood what they were. they were in the front lines of professional women suing a major corporation. that was not only not easy, they did not have any predecessors to make them feel empowered, they can feel that this was ok to do. >> it took two years and another lawsuit, but "newsweek" started opening their ranks. >> that opened the door to become a reporter. i am very indebted to the doors

they opened for me and for women throughout the profession. it was the first of the dominoes to fall. >> women in other news organizations soon followed suit, and lynn became the first senior woman editor at "newsweek." >> having her in the room, she was at the table to suggest story ideas and -- we ended up doing all kinds of stories we would not have done if the room were filled only with men. >> she went on to become editor-in-chief of "working woman" magazine. she then signed on to launch msnbc.com as head of east coast programming. she edited a book about her father, "washington post" sports columnist shirley povich. >> i understand affirmative-

action. if the law had not been in place, i would not have the opportunity i would have gotten. a lot of credit for carrying this through, not backing down, and always doing it in a very gentle way. there are not many people who could carry off such a radical action and still be seen as the gracious human being that she is. [applause] >> before we give a more loud and raucous round of applause, i want to tell it lynn something. there was a quote about how your presence expanded the vision of men around the table. in 1970, i was eight years old living in san diego, my mother

was an executive of at&t. she was an engineer. that example broadened horizons for me as a young man to think about a working mom, a working woman, and how to view the world in a different way. the reverberations of what you did in that newsroom for "newsweek" rippled across the country to a small home in san diego. i am indebted to you. ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause to our lifetime achievement winner. [applause]

>> thank you very much, major, and good evening, everyone. those of us on the dais and all our distinguished guests. before i begin, i would like to thank my family, here with me tonight, who has always rooted for me. my brother, david povich, my sisters in law, and my husband, steve sheppard, who makes everything possible for me. i would particularly like to thank my best congresswoman, eleanor holmes norton, who pushed open the doors for so many of us. [applause] thank you, eleanor, for all that you do. i am honored to accept this award in the name of all the brave women journalists who

challenged the status quo, who rebelled at great risk against their bosses, who fought for equal opportunities in the newsroom against recrimination, reductions, and worse, and who paved the way for women to assume equal positions and pay in journalism. as the editor of "newsweek" osborn elliott told me, by changing the role of women, we not only made "newsweek" a better place to work, he made it a better magazine. by bringing in more voices and more points of view, and by giving our leaders -- readers a more accurate reflection of society. this is true for every institution, including congress. women not only enrich the culture, they brought in the vision and the mandate. but we are not there yet. in 1993, women comprise 10% of

congress. it has taken 20 years to take us to 18% today. in companies, women comprise about 15% of executive-level positions. that number has not changed in 10 years. until i wrote about the "newsweek" lawsuit, our primary place in history was this. -- was lost. i am particularly grateful to the washington press club foundation, not only for this prestigious award, but more importantly for preserving and promoting the contribution women journalists have made and continue to make in our country. speaking to young women about the good girls revolt, i have discovered that they are eager to learn our history, their history, and so we have to keep honoring our foremothers and

forefathers who fought for the right we now take for granted. we have to keep telling our story, and we have to keep fighting for equal opportunities for everyone. thank you. [applause] >> we often tell ourselves that we wrote the first draft of history. true enough, history has an arc. lynn povich is a representation of that arc. thank you very much. i will move this smartly along. i will only say this -- senator

heitkamp, congressman chaffetz, after chuck hagel's performance you have a hard road ahead of you. ladies and gentlemen, heidi heitkamp. >> general garrett -- major. really original. thank you for that long and lengthy and extraordinarily gracious introduction. [laughter] i am so pleased to be here tonight, although i am not quite sure how i ended up being one of your speakers. other than bad staff work. [laughter] that is probably the 16th lie politicians tell. i did not know what the heck this was when i said yes, so i only have myself to blame for the discomfort i have experienced the last couple hours.

like most politicians, i am no stranger to a microphone and. in fact, we fight over microphones if you are a politician. during my tenure as attorney general i spoke to my daughter's second grade class. my daughter did not introduce me as the crime-fighting attorney general. she did not introduce me as the protector of senior citizens. she did not introduce me as the job creator that i was. in fact, she ignored all of the talking points i gave her. [laughter] and she simply said, this is my mom, she makes speeches for a living. [laughter] i used to tell people, i am not a real lawyer, i just play one on television. as someone who makes speeches for a living, why am i so stressed about tonight? the truth is, like almost every politician you know, i am not very funny.

in fact, i watched the videos of previous presentations that have been given to you by politicians, and i'm sure you are painfully aware that that is true. i did not fully appreciate how unfunny i was until, panicked about this lack of skill and tonight's appearance, it's set in 1:00 this afternoon. most of you know that, like great delusional procrastinators, i thought i have just a few hours to get funny. what would you do if you are a united states senator and you thought you needed to get funny? you would go sit next to al franken, right? thinking that the funny would rub off and maybe he would take pity as i told him the pain i was going through and would

write a joke. not al. so i am not feeling any funnier for my experience with al franken. i am feeling less funny. so the plan failed and it was on the plan b, or as i call it, the instant internet fix. you know what that is. those of you who are regular internet users, you know that internet advertisers -- that would be all of you -- you know about the google and the system of tubes, i know. internet advertisers are mainly right. they know how to find your special niche, your special opportunities. for example, you order a couple plus size jackets and did the banner ad that says, lose 20 pounds in two days. i thought, if it works or that it has got to work if you order up a joke books.

i will get an instant banner ad telling me how to be an instant stand up comedian in an hour or less. as of speech time, i checked the phone -- no banner ads. planned the has failed me. -- plan b has failed me. so i thought, i will talk until -- and tell you all that i used to be the north dakota state tax commissioner. [laughter] those of you who are familiar with north dakota state tax commissioners -- kent conrad was a tax commissioner. i thought, i will just tell you stories about being the north dakota state tax commissioner. you all look panicked because you think this will be a discussion about the difference between earned and unearned income, which honestly you should write more about. but instead i will tell you why

it is so different when a woman becomes the tax commissioner in north dakota. i am sure that my experience is nowhere near kent conrad's, because when i became tax commissioner, like being a senator, people invite you to come talk. one day i was extraordinarily busy giving speeches and i had one speech i gave to the chamber of commerce. the next was to the farm bureau. as you can imagine, that is a lot of 60-year-old guys who sit around talking about farm policy. then my speech at noon was a speech to the cancer society, these lovely women who were great volunteers. a room a little bit like this -- we do not have this many people in north dakota, but it is a room a lot like this. about 30 people. i am the tax collector, and i am talking about how great it is, and what wonderful volunteers there are, and how we need to fight this fight about cancer.

a woman over here, where you are, she will not look at me. when you are the tax commissioner you think, i am probably taking away her farm, doing something horrible to her she will not talk to me. so at the end of this talk, she gets up and i think, i am going to get it. she approaches me and says, excuse me, you have tucked her -- your skirt into the back of your pantyhose. i gave the whole speech, as you can imagine. [laughter] with not my better half showing. i tell you that because i figure a wardrobe malfunction will either get a good laugh or a lot of pity. i can see -- so i thought plan d, i will talk about my husband, because he has gone viral. you watch our vice president, who told him to spread his legs

well he frisks him. you saw that? what you do not know about my husband is he is very shy, extraordinarily shy, and was mortified. but he also is the funniest person i know. i want to give you some examples of how he has kept me humble and has been funny. when we were dating -- living together -- i was running for office. we always tell the story. my friend would start worrying about this, and she suggested that what we should do is get married. she turns to me and says, why don't you two get married? i said, he has never asked me. so she turns to my husband and says, why haven't you asked for? he says, i am afraid she will say yes. [laughter]

so he did marry me, which was a great thing. after the 2000 campaign we had kind of a rough ride. not because he told you this, but i did run for governor of the great state of north dakota and did not get elected and had a tough time since i was diagnosed with breast cancer. my treat to myself was to go see tina turner in concert at the fargo dome. in front of her was joe cocker. i feel a little bit like joe cocker tonight, if you expect me to be tina turner. [laughter] he get to this fabulous concert. tina turner is in her 60's. she comes out and this little woman just fills up the fargo dome. i know you do not think that is a big place, but it is. she starts dancing, and i look at my husband and say, when i am 60 i want to look like tina turner. he said, why wait? [laughter]

true story. i thought, maybe they will like to know my first impressions of washington dc, don't you know. i know you all think i have an accent. i think i talk like tom brokaw. you would like to know what it is like to be 100 in seniority in the united states senate, right? it is truly very glamorous. my transition office is quite small, very cozy, as we say. we are waiting for kent conrad to come so we can hire staff. my office is small and certainly not big enough to live in. i am wondering, congressman, was it really cozy when you lived there?

was there room for the donny and marie poster? [laughter] i have to tell you, i feel very well protected, because we are right across from the capitol police. based on personal experience, they are at the ready. they are great guys. the other day, somehow, by magic, someone hit it under my desk. five guys showed up. i did what all people do -- it was not me, honestly. to tell you how great they have been, a couple weeks go by. i did not know there was only one exit you can get out of the building. you cannot get out -- so i'm in the basement coming back, wandering around, literally wandering around trying to

figure out if i will get home. i have on the stupid shoes, so i take them out and carry them around. i realize, i bet there are security cameras. so i start looking around, carrying my shoes, very glamorous as a united states senator. you might think you get orientation. it is here is your pain, good luck. put it on the lapel. i am wandering around with the shoes and thinking, i bet the republican party is wishing they had a tracker now. but really, i figure you guys asked me not because i am funny, but because you want to know if i actually -- you saw the softball ad. i get asked all the time, did you really had that softball? i asked to go, really? you're asking me? where else will you find a middle-aged postmenopausal

redheaded woman who can hit a softball? [laughter] when people think i do not have softball skills, i have the skill to hit a ball all the weight to the fence and make it to first base. if i'm really hustling. i batted fourth in my day. those of us who are baseball and softball fans know what that means. it is the long ball. maybe that was not the reason why you actually invited me. you probably invited me not because you think i am funny, but because you asked of yourself, how did this middle- aged, redheaded, democrat win the united states senate seat in a red state that the president lost by 21 points? to you, i am like a unicorn. [laughter]

you guys do not think i exist. you just wanted to tell your family that you saw me in person, and i am the last of my species. [laughter] in all seriousness, i do want to say this -- i had some other prepared comments, but i am so moved by her story. i want to say, when sixth grade, a long time ago, people did not really think the girls should have opportunities. i wanted to be an astronaut and the first woman on the moon. what went wrong there was called algebra. [laughter] that did not work out, so i announced in the sixth grade i was going to be a lawyer. i got laughed at. i got laughed at and laughed at and laughed at.

by the time i went to law school, almost half of my class were women in my law school. think about that change. think about the pioneers, the women who stepped up and took a risk. i want all you young women in this room to think about that. think about how much courage it took to stand up for your opportunity, and for the opportunity of over half of this population. without the courage of people like them, without their courage you would not be 20 fabulous talented women in the united states senate. we owe it to women like lynn. thank you so much. [applause] we will work extraordinarily hard to honor the work that you have done. i want to thank you all for being so kind and laughing at

my jokes, even though they were all a little lame. good night. [applause] >> senator, i will tell you why we invited you. not only did we want to see a unicorn, we wanted to see fargo outtakes. you are maybe 100 in seniority, but you have committed and active history. -- an act of history. you are the first senator to ever tell a joke about the lack of size in senate offices compared to house offices. you have given a name -- we did not pick it up at the moment, but think about it. the largest unnamed bipartisan caucus in the house or senate -- she said it. delusional procrastinators. [laughter]

one other thing, senator. you do that on the senate floor, you get a good laugh, lots of pity, and a c-span audience four times the size of the population of north dakota. [laughter] weave in a joe cocker reference -- eight times the size of north dakota. with a similarly grand and glorious biography, jason chaffetz of utah. >> thank you. i was walking in and saw jake sherman from politico. he said, are you a little nervous? i said, i am kind of nervous. i am a little nervous about this. he said, fink about it this way, when you walked into this room you were a really boring republican. even if you bomb, you will still be a very boring republican.

thank you for taking up the pressure, jake. i am here for many reasons, but as you know, republicans are trying to turn over a new leaf. we want to highlight the diversity of our party. we think the diversity is a strength of the republican party, so they sent me, a white, male, conservative mormon from utah to speak to you tonight. it is actually the only constituency we have at this point. [laughter] actually, they wanted marco rubio to fill the spot, but he cannot do everything. they figure with a name like chaffetz, is close enough to they figure with a name like chaffetz, is close enough to a hispanic. you laugh, but i tell you -- i was under the impression that maybe i was invited because i'm an up-and-coming republican, then it turns out they were just looking for a way to save money on alcohol.

invite the mormon. [laughter] the senator from idaho is not here, is he? [laughter] just making sure. i am actually here with my wife. my only wife, julie. over here. [applause] i actually got into politics -- i was place kicker on byu football team once upon a time. i was not an actual football player. i was a placekicker. there is a difference. they touch me, they throw a flag.

but it was when i missed a kick in an indoor game and blamed it on the wind that i thought, i can do politics if i can sell that. i am freshly back from the republican retreat. the congressional republicans held it in williamsburg recently. and i was asked to go to the republican retreat, i said, i thought we did that on november 6. we kind of already did that. i am trying to fill the shoes of speaker boehner, who was here previously. talking to major garrett before this event, he told me that when the speaker was asked to participate he just lit up. i said, how could you tell? [laughter] i am here to share the platform. i am pleased to be here with the north dakota senator. i appreciate your comments. i am here from utah -- i will not tell the story, this is awful. i am going right to the next one. i was supposed to say god's

chosen people came from north dakota -- god's frozen people. i will skip that one, too. to those of you who actually cover congress, i have to say it is tougher for the reporters on the obama white house beat than it is for you. you do not have to show up an hour early for a president to give you a list of questions you'll ask. i should have skipped that one. [laughter] i had a hunch the president was not going to be here tonight, but i did not want to interrupt the wednesday night skeet shooting he has going on. actually, we all know that the republicans are the minority in

this town. it is quite a amazing to think that the republicans are having trouble with so many groups these days. women, hispanics, gays, the disabled, jews, catholics, newt gingrich's ex-wives, and basically anybody who has never seen an episode of "murder, she wrote." [laughter] let's face it -- the only advantage to being a republican in this town is you get to park in the handicapped space. i do not know why the approval rating for the united states congress is so low when we have not done anything. [laughter] but i will say this -- we just keep on trying. just the other day there the high level meeting. strategize the ways the party can improve its image and become more cutting edge and improve the coolness quotient of republicans. i am not quite sure so many of these ideas are actually going to work. jim sensenbrenner, for instance, -- that is all i have to do, say jim sensenbrenner. i do not even have to finish the

joke. [laughter] coolness quotient and jim sensenbrenner, that has never been used in one sentence. he suggested he should be guest starring on an episode of "barney miller." orrin hatch has a new 8-track tape out that he is marketing through woolworth's. he figures people will just flock to woolworth's to get behind the republican brand. john mccain has a new fragrance out that will be sold exclusively at sears and roebuck. lindsey graham, he came running into the room -- i endorse it, i endorse it. [laughter] you have to understand, we are dealing with a party whose hollywood sex symbol is pat sajak. not a lot of material we can go with. speaking of hollywood, these days there is a lot of talk about the academy awards. i have not seen all the

nominees, so it is hard to keep track. i am told that "django unchained" is not a dramatization of ron paul's newsletters. [laughter] "life of pi" is not a biography of governor chris christie. one that i did see was about the iranian hostage crisis -- it deals with a group of americans who undergo abuse, mockery, and a mass demonstration by a furious mob of radicals. john boehner calls that "tuesday." we may soon have another movie star in washington dc. ashley judd is considering a run against mitch mcconnell. apparently her platform

includes higher taxes, more spending, and not posing any serious threat to president obama's agenda, which has prompted the mcconnell campaign to label her as a copycat. i'm still having flashbacks to be 2012 election. i spend as much time as anyone traveling around the country in support of mitt romney, who i absolutely love. every once in a while you come across mitt romney -- you just stick that thing in the back and crank it back up and he is good for another 48 hours. [laughter] there is one thing the media did not know that happened. a real good piece of bipartisanship. the president and governor romney did spend one night together laying monopoly. it was a little awkward when you came to picking your pieces.

the president chose the battleship, mitt romney chose the car. the dog on top of the car. they are playing differently because the president insisted every time you pass go everyone had to give general motors $200. according to governor romney whenever you went to luxury tax you had to buy a tiffany's bracelet for calista gingrich. mitt romney was winning, but out of nowhere chris christie came in and gave all of his property. i know you are waiting for me to poke fun, make fun of the other party. there's nothing the mainstream media once more than to poke fun at the democrats. [laughter] i do have to give president obama credit for one thing. just when we had all pretty much decided that the president is the most arrogant man in washington, he manages to remind us about john kerry. just when he decided that john kerry was the most arrogant guy

in town, then the president brings chuck hagel. for republicans who would love to get back at president obama, i want you picture that first cabinet meeting where you have biden, hagel, and carry trying to speak the same time. [laughter] shortly after four years the president will have suffered enough. i do not know what will happen in the 2016 race. i do not know what the democrats are going to do, but for the gop there is probably no way we can do any worse than we did in 2012. outi'm sure we will figure a way to do it again. listen, i appreciate it. it is a true honor to be here. i sat through this a couple times. i am still new in this town. it really is truly an honor. the things that have been done by this organization, the